When it comes to seeing live music, a little dose of shut-the-hell-up-and-pay-attention is a good thing. This is not a concept lost on West Michigan, which has seen its share of listening rooms find success over the recent months and years.

Last summer’s much-expanded Cowpie Music Festival didn’t work out the way organizers hoped. Plagued by heavy rains on the festival’s opening day at Shagbark Farm south of Grand Rapids, the turnout for the 43-band lineup covering 17 genres fell far short of expectations.

After nearly 10 years on Division Avenue, volunteer run music venue and art gallery The Division Avenue Arts Collective (The DAAC) is being forced to close its doors on Aug. 1 due to a change in building ownership.

Musician and producer Tommy Schichtel likes to think of himself as a mad scientist when he's in the recording studio. He admits he can lose hours experimenting in his analog-only studio, Goon Lagoon, based in Grand Rapids' North side.

Ultraviolet Hippopotamus is a behemoth of the road, a formidable force on the national progressive jam band scene. The instrumentally adroit Grand Rapids rock band travels coast to coast, playing 150 to 200 shows a year.

Let's face it — playing music doesn't always bring in the paper. Many of West Michigan's finest musicians tend to 9 to 5 jobs to pay the bills. We followed six musicians to their day jobs and found out what they do when they’re offstage.